SketchUp

[Vort]

Anyone else playing with it?

[Bini]

Looks interesting. I'll check it out on the computer.

What project is underway, Vort?

[Windseeker]

No but looks cool, going to show my daughter, she might like it.

[Anddenex]

Anyone else playing with it?

This is way cool, I will be sharing this with my family -- another reason why I like LDS.net -- so many different personalities that share some pretty cool ideas and products.

[Vort]

Looks interesting. I'll check it out on the computer.

What project is underway, Vort?

Nothing in particular. Currenly doing a sketch-up of my house. Some of the seemingly intuitive features end up not being quite so intuitive, or at least not working as I had thought. I thought I would lay out the floor plan for each floor of my house and then just push/pull up the walls, but it doesn't seem quite to be working out that easily. That said, it is a lot of fun.

[NightSG]

Not so much playing with it; my last two raises have been a direct result of me throwing together SketchUp models to help customers visualize custom products, and to figure out odd design requirements.

Much faster than a typical CAD program, and a lot more user friendly in most cases once you get used to the interface and component system.

When dealing with a lot of objects that end up tilted and/or turned in relation to the main axes, components with their own coordinate systems are your friends.

When dealing with large, detailed and/or frequently altered models, the "Material Maintenance" plugin is your friend. I had a few that were approaching 75MB cut down to 450kB by combining all the assorted materials into a few and then purging unused materials and components.

[Gwen]

I enjoy playing with it. Used it to get my husband to be able to see my vision for our laundry room makeover.... now to find the money to actually do it. lol

[Vort]

Not so much playing with it; my last two raises have been a direct result of me throwing together SketchUp models to help customers visualize custom products, and to figure out odd design requirements.

Much faster than a typical CAD program, and a lot more user friendly in most cases once you get used to the interface and component system.

When dealing with a lot of objects that end up tilted and/or turned in relation to the main axes, components with their own coordinate systems are your friends.

When dealing with large, detailed and/or frequently altered models, the "Material Maintenance" plugin is your friend. I had a few that were approaching 75MB cut down to 450kB by combining all the assorted materials into a few and then purging unused materials and components.

Is that the Pro version only, NightSG? Because I'm far too cheap to cough up $550 for the program.

[NightSG]

Is that the Pro version only, NightSG? Because I'm far too cheap to cough up $550 for the program.

The only things Pro really adds are the ability to make dynamic components and the Layout program. I've used it, and might try to get the boss to spring for it at some point, but it's not yet worth the price at the level I'm using Sketchup. You might need to sign up at the SketchUCation forum to find some of the plugins, but MM should be downloadable at the above link without a signup.

[Daybreak79]

I've used sketchup for different projects over the year.

Just be warned it gets addicting if you have various project going through your mind.